The Province of Quebec: Geographical and Social Studies by J. C. Sutherland (review)

REVIEWS OF BOOKS ß 201 volume someof the twenty-six handsomelyproducedillustrations, very few of which are at all unfamiliar. The wholeof Imperial war history to the battle of Waterloo iscovered in thirty pages. The Canadian part in the war of 1812 receivesa page and a half, and in the Boer War three pages. There are three chapters on the Indian Army, two outlining the growth of colonial forcesfrom 181'6 to 1902,andtwomoreontheeffectof the ImperialConferences upon the problemsof defencebetween1903 and 1914. The final section summarizing the situation in 1914 is the longest in the book. It is doubtless because such subjects as "Germany and The Day" were rehearsedad nauseamin the days of propagandaby all sorts and conditionsof speakers and writers that evenSir CharlesLucascannotavoid making his treatment of them seema little banal in 1922. R. HOernER W•LL•A•rS The Province of Quebec: Geographicaland Social Studies. By J. C. SUTnERLA•r). Montreal: Renouf PublishingCo. [1922]. Pp. 157; illustrations. THERE hasbeena great changein the treatment of geographicalsubjects of recentyears. The authorsno longerworry their reader•s with a mere descriptionof the country or area of which they treat. but recognizing that evolution is a great law of nature they look below the present surface and endeavour to trace the causeswhich gave rise to the presentgeographyof the country, and to explain how this in its turn has influenced the course of life, of human history and the march of civilization. In this little book Mr. Sutherland, while writing for the general eader, claims that he may be consideredas breaking a new trail in Canada. His book,he says,"is the first which hasmadeany connected attempt to describethe Canadian Province in accordancewith the scientificprinciplesof modernregionalgeography." Mr. Sutherland, who is inspector-general of the Protestant schools of the provinceof Quebec,knowshis provincethoroughly from end to end. In this book he gives a general conspectusof the geographyof the province,and the moreor lessdirect influenceof this geographyon the life and institutions of the province. The book is divided into nine chapters, of which the first five are essentially physiographical and geological, as indicatedby their respective titles: "Above Sea Level"; "Plateau, Plain and Mountain"; "The Story of the Rocks"; "The Great Ice Age"; and "The Great River." The sixth chapter deals with "Economic Geography of the Province," and is followedby three other chapterstreating respectively 202 THE C•N•D•N HIStOriCaL REWEW of "Civic Government,.... Educational System," and "Geography and Human Culture." The author pointsout that the majority of the populationof eastern Canada, settled as they are on the St. Lawrencelowland plain, which lies between the southern margin of the Laurentian plateau and the United States boundary, while far 'distant from the ocean,live at an elevation but little above sea level. The low water level of the St. Lawrence at Montreal is 20.72 above sea level, while the surrounding plain is considerably lessthan 100 feet higher. The low water level ofLakeOntarioat Kingstonis 245feetabovesea!evel,whilethe plain here is also but little higher. A ship passingfrom Montreal to Lake Ontario must be raised about 225 feet. To the north of this plain is the great Laurentian plateau, or Canadian shield, the south-eastern part of which forms northern Quebec. This is a somewhatunevenplateau, or "peneplain," and represents the earliestportion of the primitive continentof North America dating back to the very beginning of geologicalhistory. It cannot be consideredas a farming country, being too roughand stony, but it is everywherewell watered, its lakes and streams forming an almost continuous network over its whole extent. A geologicalsurvey of this area to the west in the Haliburton region, showsthat over an area of 4,200 squaremiles there is a lake for every eight squaremilesof territory. This Laurentian plateau is a great forest area and aboundsin water-powers. It supplies most of the timber and pulpwood in the province of Quebecand can be made resourcesof great permanent value to the country if the plans for reforestration which are now being inaugurated are developed on a sufficiently large scale. An interesting incident in the development of this water-power system is the construction of the Gouin dam at the headwatersof the St. Maurice, which was carried out by the Quebec governmenta few yearsago. This...